Matthew Schoening

German 101

Sep 17 2014

Hanse

Trade in the middle ages was a high risk high reward gamble and there was only safety in numbers. To be a successful merchant you needed to have connections to help you get goods so that you could bring them other places and sell them for a profit or to add to your goods to make something better. You needed to know what people wanted to buy according to the region and what their interests were. The Hanse were very successful at trading and held a good claim at the free ports where people bought and sold goods. They were also effective at sailing which at the time was a dangerous adventure with minimal equipment and navigational tools. The Hanse also took over Copenhagen and then continued on to fort Halsingborg but were out witted by the Swedish and force to return home. 

http://members.bellatlantic.net/~baronfum/hansa.html Web Sep 17 2014

Hesse

Hesse

http://ge110jefffo.blogspot.com/ http://ge110denisebe.blogspot.com/ http://ge110mariamu.blogspot.com/  http://ge110jonpo.blogspot.com/ 

In my blog I get to focus on the developing of how Hesse came to be as a state and then the people and where they live in Hesse along with what political and religious affiliations they follow. In this research I have learned that Hesse has changed hands between many empire over the years to become what it is today.

     Hesse-Kassle has been inhabited for the last 50,000 years but it hasn't been a state for nearly as long. Historical changes that it has gone through. In somewhere between 1247-64 during the war of the Thurgingian Succession Hesse gained its independence and became a Landgravite under Philip The Magnanimouse within the Hold Roman Empire. In 1803 Hesse was given the status of Electorate under the Holy Roman Empire but then lost this status in 1806 when the Holy Roman Empire was disbanded. Then in the same year was annexed by Westphalia and re given the status of Elector in 1813. In 1918-1930 it was occupied by French troops until the Versailles peace treaty was signed. On 19 of September of 1945 Hesse was officially named a state.[1]

     The population of Hesse has been on the rise since 1987 starting at about 77.7 million people rising to about 82.4 million in 2005 then dropping back down to a population of roughly 80.5 million in 2012. City wise as of 2012 the 5 biggest cities population wise are as follows from biggest to smallest, Frankfurt am Main with a population of 688,000 people, Wiesbaden with a population of roughly 273,000, next is Kassel with a population of roughly 193,000, next is Darmstadt with a rough population of 148,000, and finally Offenbach am Main with a rough population of 117,000.[2] Some information and fun facts of Frankfort, it is the largest financial center on the continent. Almost 1 in 3 people living in Frankfort do not have a German passport.[4] It is home to many of Europe's largest banks. The autoban running next to it's airport is one of the most heavily used roads in the EU with roughly 320,000 cars using it each day. Frankfort is Germany's most costly place to live and is ranked the 10th most expensive place to live in the world.[5]
[3]     Religion and Politics found in Hesse. First is that Germany's voting is split into 2 different parties one is the Christian Democratic union(CDU) and the other is the Social Democratic Party of Germany(SPD). Until the collapse of the SPD in 2009 now there are 5 major political parties. Next is religion with 67% of the population Christian with 40% of those being Protestant 25% Catholic and 2% other. The next major religion is none at all with 26% of the population unaffiliated with religion. 4% of the population is Muslim and 2% refused to answer.[1]

    

[1] web http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesse Sep 10 2014

[2] web http://www.citypopulation.de/Deutschland-Hessen.html Sep 10 2014
[3] web http://myfreesoft.net/wallpapers/Cities/Images/city_at_night_4-wallpaper-1920x1200.jpg Sep 10 2014
[4] web http://www.frankfurt.de/sixcms/detail.php?id=stadtfrankfurt_eval01.c.317693.en Sep 10 2014
[5] web http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurt Sep 10 2014

What I would like to learn in class

        I would like to learn how to speak simple phrases or sentences in German. I would like to learn about German culture and ways of living. What German housing and house life is like. I would also like to learn what the auto ban is like and what it took to build it and what it takes to maintain it. I would like to learn how German culture spread to the United States and what German culture still exists in the United States today. Also I would learn about what experiences that you have had in Germany.